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Last Updated: 07 September 2026

To apply to join please either

• complete the online form
• or download, complete and submit the paper membership form

The main objective of The Astronomical Society of Glasgow is to promote an interest in Astronomy. Membership of the Society is open to everyone; and all ages are welcomed. While the lecture program is free, it's only a small part of what the Society offers. By joining the Society, you can enjoy:

• Observing evenings held at our observatory ETMO at Mugdock Country Park just outside Glasgow where we have darker skies to observe under. Members bring along their own telescopes, and the Society's telescopes are available for members to look through. So if you're looking to purchase a new telescope, this could be the best way to try out many different scopes under darker skies and ask all the questions you want to from people who own the scopes!
• Access to Glasgow University's Acre Road observatory once a month from October through to March.
• Access to our various special interest groups, including our beginners' group.
• Access to our members' WhatsApp and Private facebook groups.
• Our Monthly Newsletter and Federation of Astronomical Societies Newsletter.

All these are available with membership to the Astronomical Society of Glasgow. Membership costs £20 per year for those ages 16 and over, and is free for those under 16 though children should be accompanied by a responsible adult to our events.

It would be of immense benefit to the Society if you could pay your subscription by bank transfer to the bank account on the form, as this would save unnecessary trips to the bank in these pandemic times.  If paying by bank transfer please can you use your full name as the reference so that the Treasurer can correctly identify payments.  Completed forms can either be posted or scanned and emailed to the address on the form.  Subscriptions paid by bank transfer will be treated as donations until the corresponding form is received.

Please be assured that the personal information supplied by you to the Society is treated confidentially, is used purely for administrative purposes, will not be disclosed to any third party and will be handled in compliance with our data protection policy.  Also note that although membership for Junior members (under 16) is free, we do still need a completed membership form so we can send you our Newsletter and enable website access, and have your approval to record your details in the database as well as record parental / guardian consent to your membership.

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Last Updated: 05 September 2026

Our observatory is known as ETMO - the Eric Tomney Memorial Observatory - see below for its story. It is close to the Mugdock Park Visitor Centre.

The observatory is primarily a meeting place for members of the ASG where they do night time observing. We also use special telescopes designed for safely observing our nearest star, the Sun.

Inside the observatory we keep a variety of telescopes and although they are not of any great value in monetary terms they are protected by an alarm system. Most of the telescopes are donated and are in good working order despite their age. In the dome we have a Celestron C14 donated by Tom Boles, amateur supernova hunter extraordinaire, which we use for imaging. It is over 25 years old but still going strong. We also have a variety of telescopes for visual observing that can be taken outside on a clear night. Some of these are available for loan to members of the ASG.

From October to March we work with Mugdock Country Park to put on Stargazing events for the public. We can't guarantee a clear night but we can show you the wonders of the universe in the Mugdock theatre including many images we have taken. We will also demo some of our telescopes. Keep an eye on our eventbrite page for more info.

The story of ETMO

Following the untimely death of long standing member and past President, Mr Eric Tomney, the Society was bequeathed a generous sum of money to be used solely for the construction of an observatory building for use by members.  The Society formed a sub-committee of the ASG Council to plan the building of the observatory, to be known as the "Eric Tomney Memorial Observatory" or ETMO for brevity.

After considering several sites for the observatory we selected a location close to the Mugdock Park Visitor Centre.  This offers a well-known location not too far from Glasgow but with reasonably dark skies.  It also has the potential for ASG events to be staged in collaboration with Mugdock Park using its visitor centre.

The project was delayed for a number of reasons but particularly because we lost society Treasurer Tom Clackson to a sudden heart attack.  Not only was Tom a driving force behind ETMO but he was a friend to many of us in the society and his loss was a real blow.

Putting this and other difficulties behind us we rebooted the project in 2019 and appointed architects Collective Architecture who created a new design for which we received planning permission from East Dunbartonshire and Building Warrant approval from Stirling Council. (Mugdock Country Park land lies within Stirling council’s area but it is leased to East Dunbartonshire council because it is most used by residents of East Dunbartonshire.) The observatory was constructed by local building contractor Philip Grimley Ltd.

The design of the observatory has one 3m diameter dome housing a 14 inch reflecting telescope, both generously donated by accomplished supernova hunter Tom Boles, with a mount and auxiliary piggy-backed scopes and other equipment that allows us to use it for both visual eyepiece observing and imaging.  We have an area for storage and some workspace downstairs. Although the observatory is not operable remotely we have left that as an option for the future.  We will however have internet access to it and plan to have a small weather mast, an all-sky camera and a security system.

We had imposed a deadline of having the observatory up and running by December 2020 but as with many projects, COVID-19 interrupted our schedule and also pushed up the costs of construction.  Construction started in early 2022 and was completed by summer 2022.

The image below shows an illustration of the architect's plans though this was revised in a few details. At the right of the image is the fenced enclosure of the existing weather station at Mugdock which sits at the top of the overflow car park.  



If you would like to know more about the observatory or offer donations of equipment, money or contribute expertise please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dr Andrew Conway FRAS
President
Astronomical Society of Glasgow,
October 2020

16th February 2022
The building contractor poured the concrete foundation today.  It is planned that the concrete pier to support the telescope will be poured next week. Photo by Eileen Gibson.

21st February 2022
Casting of the concrete pier complete.

2nd March 2022
Wooden framing being erected. Photo by Eileen Gibson.

4th March 2022
Vapour barrier and wall sheeting being added. Photo by Eileen Gibson.

7th March 2022
Steel roof beams and wooden roof joists added.

 Photo above by Eileen Gibson.

17th March 2022
Roofing and stair brackets added, dome delivered to site after repainting by Silvers Marine

 Photo above by Eileen Gibson.

29 March 2022

The dome is on! Thanks to Philip Grimley, Jim the joiner and their crew for some excellent work.

30 March 2022

The dome glints in the sunlight and is later snowed upon.

28 April 2022 - photos taken by Sinclair Curdie

The stairs are installed so we no longer have to use a ladder to get to the dome and handrail helps us not fall off!

Looking down the stairs.

ETMO is clad in Siberian larch.

25th May 2022
The builder has completed his construction. Thank You Philip and Jim! We are now waiting for Stirling Council to issue the completion certificate to allow us to take possession and to start installing equipment.

Photo by Eileen Gibson

6th September 2022
Stirling Council issued the completion certificate.  This has allowed us to take possession of the observatory and to start the process of installing equipment.

30th September 2023
The observatory was officially opened my Professor Martin Hendry of University of Glasgow.

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Last Updated: 03 September 2026

Instagram: astrosocglasgow

Facebook: Astronomical Society of Glasgow

Eventbrite: Eventbrite - The Astronomical Society of Glasgow

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Last Updated: 09 February 2026

The ASG either hosts or attends a wide range of public events during the year. For example, public lectures at Strathclyde University (above left) and a variety of outreach activities, including talks, solar observing during the summer months (above right), and more general night-time observing during the rest of the year.

For members of the ASG, the details of these lectures are published in the monthly Newsletter.  For non-members, the details will be published here on the ASG’s website and on its public Facebook page.

We also hold public monthly events during in association with Mugdock Country Park which can be found on Eventbrite.

The Society has its own YouTube channel where recordings of some past lectures can be found.